Methods of reducing a concentration of formaldehyde in aqueous solutions of sugar carbonyls

An aqueous solution comprising:

• sugar carbonyls obtained by pyrolysis of sugars;
• and
• cysteine,
• wherein the sugar carbonyls obtained from pyrolysis of sugars includes water, from 1 wt % to 6 wt % formaldehyde, and from 4 wt % to 50 wt % hydroxyacetaldehyde, and
• molar ratio of the cysteine to the formaldehyde is in a range of 1:2 to 1:10.

An aqueous solution for browning foodstuffs, the aqueous solution comprising:

• sugar carbonyls;
• and
• melanoidins,
• the aqueous solution for browning foodstuffs obtained by:
• a) adding glycine to a first solution of sugar carbonyls obtained from pyrolysis of sugars to obtain a second solution, the first solution containing water, from 1 wt % to 6 wt % formaldehyde, and from 4 wt % to 50 wt % hydroxyacetaldehyde and
• b) maintaining the second solution at a temperature for a duration sufficient for the formaldehyde and the glycine to react according to a Maillard reaction to produce the aqueous solution,
• wherein the aqueous solution comprises from 0 wt % to 2 wt % of the formaldehyde, from 4 wt % to 50 wt % of the hydroxyacetaldehyde, and from greater than 0 wt % to 20 wt % of the melanoidins.

An aqueous solution comprising:

• sugar carbonyls obtained by pyrolysis of sugars;
• and
• glycine,
• wherein the sugar carbonyls obtained from pyrolysis of sugars includes water, from 1 wt % to 6 wt % formaldehyde, and from 4 wt % to 50 wt % hydroxyacetaldehyde, and
• a molar ratio of the glycine to the formaldehyde is in a range of 1:2 to 1:10.